Mr. Nath, India’s minister for urban development, is often met on trips abroad by protests from Sikh groups. They allege he played a role in leading an attack on a temple in 1984 in retaliation to the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.

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Mr. Nath has denied the allegations and has never been charged abroad or in India. Attempts to reach him Thursday weren’t successful. A spokesman for Mr. Nath said the minister was not aware that such action would be taken against him while he was at Davos.

A New York judge last year dismissed a criminal complaint against Mr. Nath by U.S. non-profit group Sikhs for Justice, saying it had no jurisdiction over the matter.

That didn’t stop the group, which is now targeting Mr. Nath at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos.

Sikhs for Justice and a Swiss human rights organization Monday filed a criminal complaint with the Swiss attorney general’s office seeking Mr. Nath’s arrest for crimes against humanity. According to a copy of a letter from the attorney general’s office dated Jan. 23, provided by Sikhs for Justice, the federal prosecutor passed the complaint to the prosecutor in Grisons, the region where Davos is situated.

Maurus Eckert, a spokesman for the prosecutor in Grisons, confirmed receipt of the complaint against Mr. Nath from the federal Swiss attorney general’s office.

“All I can say is that we’ve received the complaint, and that we will examine whether our jurisdiction permits us to pursue this matter further,” said Mr. Eckert.

Jeannette Balmer, a spokeswoman for Switzerland’s attorney general, said the office could not take action on the complaint because Swiss law regarding genocide applies to acts committed during war and only from 2000 onward. The alleged acts attributed to Mr. Nath occurred in 1984 and therefore aren’t covered by Swiss law, she said.

The attorney general forwarded the case to regional authorities in Grisons as there may be a case against Mr. Nath for damages related to the 1984 incident, Ms. Balmer added.

The petitioners plan to hold a rally against Mr. Nath in Davos on Saturday, the final day of the four-day meeting of global business leaders, politicians and celebrities.

For Mr. Nath, who already is in Davos, the complaint and protests create unwanted tensions at a time he is trying to tell the world that India’s economy – under question for much of 2012 amid soaring inflation and slowing growth – is back on track.

Mr. Nath isn’t the first politician to face such action in Switzerland. In 2011, former U.S. President George W. Bush canceled a trip to Geneva because of planned protests by human rights groups over the U.S.’s use of waterboarding on detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

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